The City of New York’s Health Department has issued a special warning advisory to its male gay population about a lethal new thread of meningitis. The new thread can morph from a fever and headache, to rash and then to death within hours and has claimed multiple lives over the last few years, reports the New York Times.
City authorities believe it is most frequently transferred via anonymous sex between men and Health Board rep Jay Varma says this makes it especially hard to track down within the gay community:
“It’s been sort of marching through the community in a way that makes us very scared,” Varma tells the Times, adding most victims have most often been “men, regardless of H.I.V. status, who regularly have intimate contact with other men through a Web site, digital application or at a bar or party.”
The city Health Board is still collecting data about this new form of meningitis, Varma adds:
“We know there is clearly some kind of social-risk factor, being very socially active with people you’ve met either through online sites or parties. All they know is a screen name and a physical description. It’s another big challenge for us to identify how this disease is spreading.”
by RTT Staff Writer
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